Ah wonderful okay cool well when that happens I will open the flood gates to all the pictures
Good thing is, you should be able to make a little bit a coin by selling that execrable Pontiac engine!
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There were whole lot of minor changes during the early years of the E-Type which ought to date the car quite accurately, if they’re original to the car. For instance, a '61 or '62 should have an aluminum covered instrument panel instead of black vinyl which came later in '63.
I completed a nut and bolt on a '62 Coupe that was right after the last of the flat floor cars. Just after my car (April '62 production), the whole rear body was changed on the Coupes and later parts such as body panels, the hatch, glass, the filler lid etc. won’t fit.
You might find the body number plate on the left side inner fender and the same number would be stamped on the right side bonnet gusset. That would pretty well date the car. Any Lucas items are stamped with a date, month and year and you can date the window glass by noting the position of the dot under the word “TOUGHENED” or “LAMINATED”. An aluminum date plate might also be on the Dunlop master cylinders.
Personally, I’m glad mine wasn’t a flat floor. It was cramped enough as it was and I had even added the bulkhead cut-out behind the seats to get more room.
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Not to be a Debbie Downer, but from the looks of things I would be incredibly surprised if the rust didn’t go a LOT deeper. However it sounds as if you are a very capable body man/mechanic so should be able to get through it.
I once had a '69 Firebird with the high output version (4 barrel etc.) of the OHC 6- actually a very nice engine.
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You haven’t mentioned the most important tool
Check book and get a shoe box for your bills a big one 
Probably The only one more excited than you is your credit card company Lol 
On a more serious note be real organized most people don’t have the time and money to steam roll it so time will play with your memory
Common questions will be
Whats original
Where is it
How does this go
What’s this part ( not a jag part)
Number V 1116, that looks like about October 1961 production, so it would have had a flat floor (if that’s important).
V1116 Body Number is consistent with the Car Number/Chassis Number 885098 you gave, so that’s good news. Likely an October 1961 build, so should have flat floors, welded bonnet louvers, but inside bonnet locks (unlike the first 500 cars with outside bonnet locks). As @Clive_Wilkinson has already indicated, knowing the Body Number and Car Number will stand you in good stead for determining which parts you will need, as a lot of things changed in the early years.
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Hey, I resemble that comment! Actually not really, sometimes I think I’m the only sane one around here…
Just kidding, just kidding where is my flame suit?
But seriously, congrats on the acquisition Jonathon and welcome to the group. I don’t have much to add to the sage advice already given at this point except that just about every detail on these cars has been beat to death over the years so don’t be shy about using the Search function. Good luck, sounds like you are a very capable young man and I have no doubt that in the end this is going to be a success.
So is it just me who thinks that Pontiac six looks a heckuva lot better in there than a 289/283 or whatever V8 lumps have gone into E-Types?
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Hi Jonathon, welcome to our little backwater. As David and Clive said there were many early cas “special” items - welded louvers etc. You also have the correct steering wheel for an early car - absent the thumb groove on the top surface. These are quite valuable as is the horn push - pushing $2000 in reasonable condition.
Good luck with it - you have time on your side. Expect we’re all pleased to see a young guy enamoured with the car we love. Paul ('62 FHC).
Also the XKEData site might be useful to you as you progress. Not surprisingly your car is not listed yet.
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Hi Jonathon and welcome ……. When you remove the instrument panel containing the speedo and tachometer …… you should find on the back of it the body number and colour of the original interior……however it is possible that this may vary from the body tag for 2 reasons……often the build sheet would specify the colour and the assembly line would just grab the next available LHD red they could see! Not necessarily in correct order.
The second reason is the very occasionally the body tags on the cars were mixed up and can be out by 2 of numbers
Hope this helps in ID ing the car
I vaguely recall an American car magazine did an article of an E Type fitted with a Pontiac 6 back in the '60’s. I don’t recall whether they were actually involved in the conversion or merely tested it. Might have been a hot rod oriented mag. Wonder if it’s the same car.
With regard to the comment that younger people won’t have any affinty to these cars as time goes by, that hasn’t happened to other classic cars , so I think these will stand on their own merits. They still look fantastic, and always will, better than most new supercars ( Ferrari Lambo etc) IMO
My God have mercy on you to endure the journey you are about to begin.
That will indeed be a rather difficult build.
About 6 months ago a Pontiac 6 powered E-Type sold on BaT - the article you describe was included in the comments on the auction:
It completely baffles me why anyone thinks a non-crossflow, single overhead cam engine is an improvement over the Jaguar engine.
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Hi
Jonathon, welcome and congratulations! I’m so pleased to read that at 26 you are so accomplished. You will be in good hands here, knowledgeable members who are more than ready and willing to lend their expertise. I’ve had my 69 E for over 30 years and it was the dream of my life to have one. I would recommend the Bentley manual "Complete Official Jaguar “E” ISBN O-8376-0136-3. and for reading, The Most Famous Car in the World.
SNG Barratt provided the parts for the restoration of this car HP9600 the E type coupe and the first E that appeared to the world in 1961, along with RW77 in Geneva.
Thank you for taking on this car!
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I do recall there were lots of snide letters to the editor; I believe one suggested the next project might be to fit a small block Chev into Ferrari GTO in order to get some real performance!
The Car and Driver article though was symbolic of the kind of writing the magazine was famous for. They often did crazy stuff like that, but unlike a typical hot rod magazine they were well aware of the history and background of the object they were desecrating. 
Note the oversquare bore/stroke ratio of the Pontiac - that would be an advantage for getting high revs out of the motor. I don’t know what shortcomings the Pontiac OHC straight six had, but inline sixes have never got the development from the US industry that they could have to be contenders.
Much easier to use a V-8 instead. It always shocked me when GM put out the Atlas DOHC I-6 in the early 2000’s. And it too died quickly at the hands of the LS V8 series. But maybe they’ll make a comeback if the trend towards smaller displacement turbo motors continues. Easier to package a turbo installation for an inline engine than a vee configuration.
Dave
Then there was the “Jaguar XKE-E” in an issue of Road & Track in the 70s. Remember that? It showed a S1 with an extra long bonnet and a “straight 12” engine. It had mirrors and cameras to aid in parking and backing up. It was written as a true road test with specs, but last page of the magazine showed a guy with a torch and devlish smile. He somehow connected two engines and extended the bonnet to accommodate them. Bizarre!